The third iteration of the leader-class mould of 'knight' Optimus Prime, and a remould of a remould.

Vehicle mode

The Western Star 5700. The blue plastic has a slight metallic sheen or sparkle to it, but seemingly not to the same extent as Armour Knight Optimus Prime.

The truck shares AD31's dark windows, compared to the translucent yellow of the Hasbro and initial Takara releases, as well as the chromed plates with the Western Star logo between the two pairs of rear wheels. The shutlines on the sleeper cab are different, but the back of the truck is the biggest indication that there is something new here, with grey and copper parts and a remoulded rear section behind the trailer hitch.

I'm not sure if it's the way the figure transforms, or if it's just my figure, but I find that the middle wheels are a millimetre or two short of touching whatever surface the figure rests on. It's possible to press down on the figure slightly to ensure all six wheels touch the ground and roll, but press too hard and you risk a post set into the bottom of the truck contacting the ground as well, which itself only has a couple of millimetres of ground clearance.

The Temenos sword and Calibur axe can be attached to the bottom of the truck, although on my example, the axe head contacts the surface and so scrapes along when the truck rolls.

Transformation

Broadly the same as the original figure, but the modifications result in some substantial changes to the back of the truck, which add a few steps.

Robot mode

The first version of the figure, although fairly screen-accurate in terms of overall shape, had a chest, feet, and sword that were based on Josh Nizzi's earlier concept art, so these details weren't faithful to the final CGI model, and the forearms were based on his initial appearance after reconfiguring himself into his new 'knight' form. The second version, Armour Knight Optimus Prime, had a remoulded chest, front skirt, and feet that were faithful to the final CGI model, forearms that represented his reconfigured arms after picking up the Temenos sword, a new head that gave the owner the option of displaying Optimus with his face plate or 'unmasked' face, a new shield, and a new, screen-accurate Temenos sword.

As mentioned before, this is a remould of a remould, which retains the aesthetic improvements of AD31 and adds substantial engineering changes in the rear of the truck. Gone is the unsightly backpack, replaced with a slimmer back panel with moulded details. Optimus now has far better torso proportions, but the backpack added visual weight to the top half of the figure, and now he seems to have disproportionately large lower legs when viewed from the sides.

The rear of the truck now turns into a large shield that resembles the one he briefly wielded in Dark of the Moon in Chernobyl. The shield attaches to either of Optimus's forearms, and can attach to his back.

For armament, Optimus is now equipped with the large Calibur axe, based on the weapon he wielded in the Battle of Chicago against Sentinel Prime, and the screen-accurate Temenos sword, which appears to be the same as the one that came with AD31. Both can be clipped onto Optimus's back.

The instructions state that it's possible to have both weapons and the shield attached to Optimus's back, but I find that the shield doesn't attach securely to its socket with both weapons attached, due to the length of the post on the shield.

A limited extra is a smaller sword based on Optimus's orange battle blades, also featured briefly in Dark of the Moon in Chernobyl. Another exclusive accessory is a gold-plated version of the original leader-class figure's shield.

The Calibur axe, the small sword, and the shield are compatible with MB11 - the Movie the Best version of leader-class Optimus Prime that has the new hands that first appeared on Hasbro Asia's APS-01U. It's unclear if the weapons can be held by earlier versions that don't have the new hands.

Verdict

The new Voyager has better proportions, but in addition to being larger, this version has more paint and more detail.

We'll have to wait until Transformers 6 to see if we'll get a new leader-class Optimus Prime based on his knight form, but in the meantime, if you don't already have a leader-class knight Optimus Prime, this is the one to have. This is definitely worth a look even if you already have the original release of the mould, although the case for buying one may be a bit weaker if you have AD31.